Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Bernard character analysis in brave new world
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Bernard character analysis in brave new world
The central conflict is Bernard vs. Society, and it is external. This is because the conflict is appearing outside of the protagonist, rather than an internal conflict, which is when there is opposition between the protagonist and his or herself. The conflict in Brave New World's case moves the story forwards as the author shows the reader how stereotypes can influence social ranking in many different forms. For example, most Alpha males such as Bernard would be tall, strong, smart, and commanding. Bernard, however, is vertically challenged, meek, of higher intelligence than most, and lacks authority. In fact, one of the "females" of the story, Fanny, was helping to spread a rumor about Bernard. "They say somebody made a mistake when he was …show more content…
till in the bottle - thought he was a Gamma and put alcohol in his blood-surrogate. That's why he's so stunted" (46). This conflict continues to move the story along, leading to Lenina going on holiday to Mexico, meeting The Savage, and finally ends with Bernard being completely hated of all of those of high class. In Brave New World, the story takes place in a utopian socitey far into the future, where humans are genetically perfected and produced in bottles, where there are few diseases and fears, and where everyone belongs to everyone else. The city of which the character's lives are centered is London, England; one of the many large, perfected places (besides where the Savages of Mexico live) around the world. The exact date is not known, however one can infer that it is set far into the distance of time. In Brave New World, the protagonist, Bernard Marx, living in London, England, struggles with society and reaching the expectations of his rank.
He doesn't love the same recreational activities as the others, nor does he have the same conditioning and thought process, yet he still excels in his field and gets the girl of his dreams to go on vacation with him. (Not) Shockingly, the two decide that a visit to the New Mexico Savage Resvervation would be a treat, yet poor Lenina finds the place of the Indians to be revolting, until she meets a young, handsome, a savage outcast named John whose mother who was left behind on one of her visits to the Reservation, (mothers are considered embarrassing in this culture of the future, for giving birth is utterly disgusting) wants to return to civilization. Eventually, all four return to London, where The Savage takes his turn of being utterly confused and hideous by civilization, Lenina gets her heart broken, Bernard is sent to Iceland, and John's mother dies. The turning point occurs when The Savage, John, cannot achieve loneliness and takes his own life by hanging himself from the rafters of his lighthouse. There is never a resolution to the conflict between Bernard and
Society. I took away from this book that no matter what we do to civilization, whether it be genetically modifying populations, or creating a caste system, not one single being will ever be truly happy. For example, although Bernard was born an Alpha male, that does not guarantee that he will have an infinite number of friends. Just because Lenina is flawless in her beauty does not mean that she will fall in love. Finally, just because The Savage is imteresting does not give him permission to casually become one with society and fit in. No matter how much we change ourselves, we can never all achieve joy.
As analyzed by social critic Neil Postman, Huxley's vision of the future, portrayed in the novel Brave New World, holds far more relevance to present day society than that of Orwell's classic 1984. Huxley's vision was simple: it was a vision of a trivial society, drowned in a sea of pleasure and ignorant of knowledge and pain, slightly resembling the world of today. In society today, knowledge is no longer appreciated as it has been in past cultures, in turn causing a deficiency in intelligence and will to learn. Also, as envisioned by Huxley, mind altering substances are becoming of greater availability and distribution as technology advances. These drugs allow society to escape from the problems of life instead of dealing with reality. With divorce rates higher than ever in the past few decades, it has become evident that lust has ruined the society's sexual covenants. People are indulging in their sexual motives; lust runs rampant, thus strong, long-lasting relationships are becoming a rarity.
In Brave New World, Huxley introduces multiple characters and problems to explore both internal and external conflicts throughout the story. One character we see in depth is Bernard. An alpha in society, Bernard struggles with inner conflict that separates him from the rest of his peers. Unlike others he sees the world he lives in as flawed. He questions everything and as a result of this, feels isolated and different. He struggles with his inner feelings as others start to judge him. He has the option to go against the part of him that says to act like every other Alpha, or to go with the part of him that wants to stand up for what he believes to be morally right.
A: Life in The Brave New World changes John in an unusual way. Being a child from the savage reservation, John was taught that morality, rather than conditioned by the Controller. John learned his rights and wrongs from his mother, and his own experiences. John knew a personal relationship was valued, and everyone loved one another. He learned that religion was a major part of his morals. Sex was something done with a mate that is loved.
In the beginning of Brave New World, Bernard is very easily relatable for a high school reader. He doesn’t fit in with everyone else and for this he is insecure. One reason he doesn’t fit in is because of his size. Many people look down on Bernard because of his physical handicap of being just 8 centimeters shorter than the normal alpha. For this, he gets picked on by the others. Huxley said this when describing Bernard, “The mockery made him feel an outsider; and feeling an outsider he behaved like one, which increased the prejudice against him and intensified the contempt and hostility aroused by his physical defects. Which in turn increased his sense of being alien and alone.” Many people can relate to feeling inadequate or being a little different than everyone else so they feel like they can relate to Bernard. Therefore, they hope for the best for Bernard. Everyone likes an underdog. Readers want to see Bernard succeed.
In Brave New World, there are three societies: the civilized society of Bernard and Mustapha Mond, the savage society of John and Linda, and the old society, which is not explicitly in the book but is described by the characters. These societies are vastly different. The old society is 20th century Western society; the civilized society creates people and conditions them for happiness and stability; and the savage society is very far behind the civilized society technologically, and is very religious. John is a very important character in the novel because he represents the link between all three of these societies.
John's eyes fluttered open and he cautiously surveyed his surroundings. Where was he taken? Who knocked him unconscious and carried him from his solitude at the lighthouse? He did not have to wait long for his answer, when he saw his friend standing over him, shaking him to awareness.
...re different and attempts to either ridicule, exemplify, or ignore them. In the Brave New World, society aims to preserve the homologous nature of living. With strict rules, crowd mentality and community actives the Brave New World attempts to get rid of the individual. Hypnopedia messages such as "When the individual feels, the community reels," and "Everybody belongs to everyone else," the Brave New World attempts to diminish the value of individuality and seeks instead to promote the idea of society first. Bernard, Helmholtz, and John are the few individuals of the Brave New World. They differ from the rest of society, because they recognize their uniqueness and realize that they are apart from society. It is because of their self-realization of their individuality that they are condemned to be ostracized from society and to live outside the Brave New World.
Bernard the protagonist of "Brave New World" written by Aldous Huxley is a character alienated from society because the other Alphas do not accept him due to the rumors people made up that claimed alcohol was in his blood surrogate. However as Edward Said wrote, "exile can become a 'potent, even enriching' experience." Although Bernard was alienated from society he was enriched with knowledge and understanding of the other classes such as the Epsilons. He took a trip to the Reservation and learned how the savages lived. With alienation comes understanding and higher thinking. Bernard was not only alienated but enriched because he was not like the others in the sense that he knew the truth & stuck to his morals.
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World illustrates a colorful, fantastic universe of sex and emotion, programming and fascism that has a powerful draw in a happy handicap. This reality pause button is called “Soma”. “Take a holiday from reality whenever you like, and come back without so much as a headache or a mythology.” ( Huxley 54 ).
Although Bernard likes Lenina, he hates the fact that she can’t think for herself. Lenina and Bernard decide to go to the Savage Reservation in New Mexico. It's here where Bernard meets other people like him: John “The Savage” and Linda. Linda was a former member of The World State and also Bernard’s boss’s “Girlfriend,” but got stranded during a trip to the reservation. Although frowned upon at the World State, Linda gave birth to John.
In this world where people can acquire anything they need or want, we have to wonder, “Is the government controlling us?” Both the governments in A Brave New World and in the United States of America offer birth control pills and have abortion clinics that are available for everyone, thus making birth control pills and abortion operations very easy to acquire. Although both governments offer birth control pills and abortion clinics, A Brave New World’s government requires everyone to take the pills and immediately get an abortion when pregnant. This in turn shows us that A Brave New World’s government is controlling the population and the development of children. China is one of the few countries that currently have control of the development of children. In controlling the development of its children, China is also controlling the population levels. In any country, controlling the amount of children a single family can have can dramatically decrease the population levels. Just by having birth control pills and abortion clinics there for anybody to take advantage of shows that the involvement of either government is already too high.
In the novel, Brave New World, written by Aldous Huxley, the author uses character development to contrast the two different societies present in the novel.He shows the importance of morality, or an increase in wisdom in the character of humankind. The author contrasts a society full of static and flat characters and another society full of round characters. In order to show the importance of life experiences in changing the character of individuals in the society.
John is overwhelmed by all the people that he sees that are all the same. He tries to fit in by focusing all his heart and energy into Lenina. However when he realizes that she has fully succumbed to the ways of the brave new world and she is truly lost, he realizes that he can’t start a life there with her. Shortly after that John’s mother, Linda, died from soma. All the soma intake caused her lungs to give out.
"'God isn't compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness.'" So says Mustapha Mond, the World Controller for Western Europe in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World. In doing so, he highlights a major theme in this story of a Utopian society. Although the people in this modernized world enjoy no disease, effects of old age, war, poverty, social unrest, or any other infirmities or discomforts, Huxley asks 'is the price they pay really worth the benefits?' This novel shows that when you must give up religion, high art, true science, and other foundations of modern life in place of a sort of unending happiness, it is not worth the sacrifice.
...lso dislikes the Utopian civilization. The problem with him is they let they him get too smart. That led him to want a better life, a dream he felt was unobtainable in Utopia. He was one of the few people that understood John and had similar interests in literature. He is also classified as an alpha-plus.